境内
jìng nèi · HSK 7
province
🛂🗺️ 境 border + 内 inside = inside the borders, domestic territory
境 means boundary or territory, 内 means inside or within. Stack them: what lies 内 (inside) the 境 (border) = within a country's borders, domestic. Contrast with 境外 (border + outside), meaning abroad.
内 — enclosure 冂 + enter 入
内 originally depicted something entering (入) into an enclosed space (冂), giving the core sense of 'inside' or 'within'. The pictographic image of going into a covered area extended naturally to meanings like inner, internal, and inland. It contrasts with 外 ('outside').